January 2007 Meeting &

Plant of the Month Competition

January's talk on Euphorbia was given by John Frew

John Frew gave a very good talk on the genus Euphorbia. He told us that they had been around for a long time, First mentioned in 400 BC. They were named after the physician Euphorbes. They are very widespread and there are lots of them - 300 genera and 5000 species.

There are about 500 succulent species in 7 genera, mostly from South America, South Africa and Asia. They have poisonous sap which is used in the natives poison arrows and
also has medical use. The plants always have three seeds which disperse by explosive action. The male and female plants are
separate.

John spoke mainly on plants from Madagascar and South Africa with a few from Central Africa. The Madagascan plants always require more heat. The slides were excellent and very varied. We then went on to see some habitat Euphorbia from
South Africa. After this we saw some South African wild flowers from John's trip to South Africa. This was an excellent
talk which we all enjoyed.

The plant of the month was Agave. There was only one entry, so it gained first prize.